Tropical Smoothie Recipes

Some of the best ways to recreate some island vibes at home is in your kitchen! We’re starting to create a growing list of Caribbean inspired recipes here on the blog featuring Jamaican coconut cake, saltfish fritters and rum raisin chocolate chip cookies. We also have a list of Caribbean inspired drinks recipes including sorrel drink, cocoa tea and rum punch. Now we’re adding to the list with something a little healthier, some tropical smoothie recipes! 

Featuring some of the tropical fruits that grow abundantly in the Caribbean, like mango and pineapple, but are still easily accessible in less tropical climates like the UK. A tropical smoothie is the perfect recipe to start of your day with a touch of island sunshine ☀️

The answer is, it's really up to you! The great thing about these tropical smoothie recipes is that you can choose to use fresh or frozen tropical fruit. Frozen tropical fruit is great as it means you’ve already pre-prepared the fruit ready for blending, making it a bit quicker to make the smoothie. Frozen fruit is also great to add some more texture to your tropical smoothie, making each smoothie a great and healthier alternative to ice-cream in the summer months. 

However, if you have fresh ripe fruit on hand, it's always lovely to enjoy a tropical smoothie made with fresh ingredients. You can always add a few ice cubes before blending if you want to recreate a more ice-cream texture.

The only recipe I recommend only using frozen mango and not fresh is the Mango Delight Smoothie recipe. It just tastes so much better with frozen mango!

In these recipes, I’ve tried to stick to using tropical fruits that are easily accessible for people living in a less tropical climate - tropical fruits that you can find in your local supermarket. However, you may be able to find more tropical fruit if you visit a local Caribbean food market or subscribe to a tropical fruit and vegetable box like this one from Windrush Bay, and can add these to your tropical smoothie.

Here is a list of some tropical fruit that you can find in the Caribbean region:

Avocado, Pear

Very popular all over the world, and more recently, particularly popular to spread over toast for breakfast. Avocado makes a great addition to a tropical smoothie to achieve a smooth texture.

Bananas

Popular all over the world, bananas grow plentifully in the Caribbean and is commonly used in smoothies. 

Genip

To be eaten similar to how you would eat a lychee. Has a sweet and citrus flavour.

Guava

Often used in jams and jellies. The flavour is unmistakably tropical!

Mango

Another popular tropical fruit that is sold all over the world. There are many varieties, often eaten on it’s own or in smoothies, juices, ice-creams and sorbets. 

Papaya

Although not as widely sold in places like the UK, you can find this fruit in supermarkets. This fruit is juicy and sweet with a similar taste to melon.

Pineapple

Another tropical favourite, pineapples are accessible pretty much all over the world and are commonly used in tropical smoothies. 

Passion fruit

Sweet yet acidic in flavour. Another tropical fruit commonly used in tropical smoothie recipes and juices. 

Starfruit, Carambola

Has a sour, citrus-like flavour. Very juicy and refreshing.

Sugar Apple (also known as sweetsop or custard apple) 

Has a sweet flesh surrounding hard seeds. The flesh has a pudding like texture similar to banana with a subtle taste of apple. Ripe when soft.

This is just a short list of some of the tropical fruits you can find in the Caribbean, have a look at the sources and further reading links at the bottom of this post for more!

The following tropical smoothie recipes includes a recipe for:

Pineapple Coconut Passion Smoothie

A deliciously refreshing smoothie, reminiscent of a non-alcoholic piña colada, with pineapple, coconut water, coconut milk and passionfruit. 

Water-Berry Mango Sunrise Smoothie

This is my favourite smoothie on this list. A fun layered smoothie starting with a tropical mango, pineapple and passionfruit topped with the fruity watermelon, strawberry and raspberry layer. Each layer is made with a splash of coconut water to give it an even more refreshing taste. Perfect for a warm summers day.

Mango Delight Smoothie

This is an indulgent tropical smoothie made with coconut yoghurt, coconut milk and frozen mango with some added flavour and sweetness of honey and vanilla extract. I recommend using frozen mango for this recipe. The finished texture is similar to an ice-cream, making it the perfect healthy dessert. You definitely need a high speed blender for this recipe that can handle blending frozen fruit.

Mango Avocado Smoothie

A somewhat strange combination, mango and avocado together makes for a delicious smoothie! The avocado adds a creaminess and velvet texture whilst the mango adds the sweetness. Again, I recommend using frozen mango for this recipe, however if you have fresh mango on hand you can just add some ice cubes. I added a few spinach leaves for some extra nutrients and a beautiful green colour, but of course you can leave this out if you don't like the taste of spinach in your smoothie. You can feel good about starting or ending your day with this healthy tropical smoothie.

These recipes don't have strict measurement requirements, you can be flexible with the measurements for each smoothie recipe according to the size of your glasses, the number of people you're serving, how much of each ingredient you have on hand and which fruit flavour is your favourite! I really encourage you to play around with different fruit combinations to create your own unqiue tropical smoothie recipes.

Cut the passionfruits in half and scoop out the pulp. 

Put the passionfruit pulp into your blender with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into your favourite glass to enjoy immediately. Serve with extra ice cubes if desired. 

Add all the ingredients for the mango layer and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses until half filled.

Add all the ingredients for the water-berry layer and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses over the mango layer to create your layered Water-Berry Mango Smoothie!

Mango Delight Smoothie

For approximately 2 servings

Ingredients

• 300ml coconut yogurt (note 1)
• 100ml coconut milk (note 2)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 400g frozen mango (note 3)

Put all the ingredients into a high speed blender (like a Vitamix), blend until smooth and serve. 

Mango Avocado Smoothie

For approximately 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado, halved, deseeded and peeled
• 2 cups frozen mango
• 1-2 cups coconut water (note 4)
• A few spinach leaves

Put all the ingredients into a high speed blender, blend until smooth and serve. 

(1) Can substitute with any plain yogurt including greek yogurt. You could also try using mango yogurt for extra tropical flavour!

(2) Substitute with your favourite non-dairy milk, like almond milk, or use semi-skimmed milk.

(3) I recommend using frozen mango with this tropical smoothie recipe. 

(4) You can substitute with plain water or another liquid of choice.

Sources and further reading:

1. Tropical Fruits of the Caribbean. Read more 

2. Tropical Fruits. Read more

3. The Caribbean Dictionary, Fruit. Read more 

4. All About Papayas. Read more  

5. Photo by Oumar Ramjean on Unsplash

6. Photo by JACQUELINE BRANDWAYN on Unsplash